What Happens if I Stop Paying My Timeshare?
This question comes up a lot on timeshare forums and blogs, and it can be complicated depending on the exact procedures outlined in your particular contract. There are a few main points that stay the same regardless of whether you have a deeded timeshare or right-to-use, and whether or not you have paid off the entire amount of the timeshare. The following is a description of the steps that will take place if you decide to throw in the towel and allow your timeshare to go into default, leading to timeshare foreclosure.
Timeshare is treated equal to real estate in the eyes of the law, and it follows the same rules and regulations as a homeowners deed. Your timeshare can foreclose in the same way as your home if you stop making payments – and this does not just mean payments on the principal balance, it also includes yearly maintenance fees. After your first missed payment, whether it be a monthly payment on the principal balance or your maintenance fees, you will start receiving calls from your timeshare resort’s collection company attempting to collect a payment. You will also receive information by mail detailing the amount due, including any applicable late fees, and their intentions on reporting your delinquency to the IRS.
The harassing telephone calls and letters will continue if you choose to not pay the balance due on your timeshare, and after anywhere from 6-24 months (this is dependent on the procedure of your resort company) your timeshare company will begin foreclosure proceedings on your timeshare. Timeshare companies will try to avoid this at all costs because a foreclosure means they have to take the property back and pay legal fees for the proper paperwork to be processed. I have heard instances of resorts offering to lower the amount due on the principal, changing contacts to make maintenance fees due only every 2 years, adding extra perks into your vacation package such as extended stays, rental cars, airfare, and sometimes even offering to forgive the amount owed if the two parties can reach a suitable agreement for payments to continue.
If your timeshare does go all the way through the foreclosure proceedings you will be notified by mail that your deeded timeshare will be part of a trustee’s sale or public auction. At the given date, time and place your timeshare will be sold at a sheriff’s auction to the highest bidder. The auction is public record and the transaction can be recorded and reported to the IRS and credit bureaus, effectively ruining your credit for the next 7 years. This strike on your credit score can make it difficult to finance a car, obtain a loan or even buy a home. Since timeshares rarely sell at auction for the amount owed on the deed, the timeshare resort company has the option to take legal action and sue you for the remaining balance owed. Read more on timeshare foreclosure and credit scores in the post – Timeshare Foreclosures and Your Credit Score
Timeshares can be hard to wiggle out of, but most anything is better than letting the property foreclose and take a major hit on your credit score – especially if you are anticipating a major purchase in the near future. Timeshare foreclosure should be your last resort if there is absolutely no way you can make the monthly or yearly payments. It is wise to contact your timeshare resort if you are having financial difficulties and anticipate missing a payment, some properties will even offer to take your timeshare back under some circumstances; some resorts will also offer a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. You will also want to check out possibly donating your timeshare if the principal amount is paid off in full – this is not an option if you still owe money on a loan.
Helpful Timeshare Foreclosure Links:
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure for Timeshare – http://rcivip.com/deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure-for-timeshare/
Timeshare Foreclosure and Your Credit Score – http://rcivip.com/timeshare-foreclosures-and-your-credit-score/
Alternative Timeshare Sales Options – http://rcivip.com/alternative-timeshare-sales-options/
We have tried to contact the resort but either keep getting the run around or are unable to be able to talk to someone that can handle the transaction, either they are away at the moment, etc and we never get a call back. We were thinking that we may have to make a trip to the place we purchased the timeshare and see if we would be able to do any good then, however, thats a long trip and money is close now. We only get correspondence from them when they want money, and the maint. fees rose 25% for next year. I may try putting it on cragislist and see if that gets any response. We even paid Century 21 Timeshare listing over 500.00 to sell it a few years ago and never got a response.
Thanks for all your help
Rich
Hi Richard,
In your case, since the timeshare is already paid off, I would like to refer you to the #2 comment posted on this thread regarding ways to get rid of timeshare. A timeshare company can still pursue a foreclosure even if the principal amount is paid in full (although it does make it less likely, some resorts still will proceed with foreclosure), and since you only pay maintenance fees you are in a good position to be able to avoid foreclosure (not to mention a major hit to your credit score). I would try to get rid of your unwanted timeshare anyway you can – whether it be ‘selling’ it to someone for $1, or donating to a charity willing to take on the property; do everything you can to transfer the title before considering foreclosure as an option.
Have you contacted your resort and found out what their protocol is for taking property back that has already been paid off? Have you been delinquent on any payments yet? Please let me know, and post any discourse you may have had with them about giving the property back, it will help a lot of others on this board going through the same thing.
Keep us updated,
Mandie
By the way our timeshare is paid in full, all we are having to pay now is the maint. fees, what have gotten out of control. Whenever we try to reach a real person to discuss this matter all we get is the run-around.
Thanks again,
Rich
Hello Mandie, your information has been a god send to my wife and I. We own a time share and were somehow dupped into extending it a while back. The maint. fees have become outragous and we can no longer afford it. We have tried to sell with no luck. If I understand you correctly, if we just quit paying our maint fees they will just take it back without our home or other assets being in jepordy. We desperately want to get rid of this and especially dont want it going over to our children where they are obligated to pay the fees.
PLEASE let me know if this is correct or there is some other way to get rid of this timeshare.
Even though you have finished paying it off and only have to pay maintenance fee’s if you dont pay they will sue you. We stopped paying maintenance now for 2 years; its paid off and the maintenance has went up from $150 to $800 a year and just recieved our court order that we are being sued. We contacted a Lawyer and are going to hope he can help us. Will let you know what happens.
what a lot of BS — as you try to scare people so they will pay your collections call.
we had bought over 40 weeks as rentals. We stopped paying them all more than 5 years ago — and were not sued even once. The TS companies took the weeks. Even if they wanted to sue, they would first need to foreclose on the property and then demonstrate that the value they took back was less than you owed.
Mine are even now past the statute of limitations so that we cannot be successfully sued.
Hi Derrick,
It does sound like you are being drug around by the timeshare company – I would spend a little extra money and hire a lawyer if they are threatening to sue and/or file any type of foreclosure listings. I would definitely seek legal council.
I purchase a time share with Hilton Grand Vacation and got behind on my payments (6 months @ $250mthly) and maintainance fees. I spoke to the company and they said I could pay the past due payments around $1,300 and make arrangements on the maintainance fees. When I called back 2 weeks later the amount went from $1,300 to $2,000 and he said it went to foreclosure and the extra $700 was attorney fees. I was instructed to call the attorney and when I asked about the amount to pay, they said I had to pay $1,300 in attorney fees for filing the foreclosure. I believe this is excessive and when I spoke to Hilton again, the same employee I spoke who is the forclosure specilist said he did not tell me the attorny fees were $700. We do not mind paying fees because of our actions, but it seems they are taking advantage of the situation. Please advise your thoughts
i missed payments for 4 months already and timeshre won't help me, it is now with 3rd party collection agents and keeps calling and sending me letters. i still owe 8k but has already padi 200/month for 5 years. your advice please! i don't want to continue anymore and can't afford to make any payments. thanks
Hi, I've just received a call from a Resort Management rep who told me I was going to be sued for not paying my maint.fees. I have not paid the fees for 2 yrs because they doubled in cost. I tried giving the weeks away as well as selling and that did no good. I notified the HOA that I no longer wanted the weeks before I stopped payment and they said too bad. Can I be sued? What can I do? Thanks…
Hi All,
I have returned from my vacation, and mean while I have received few notices from my TS company. But I am still ignoring them.
Two times they sent me a notice stating they will report to Collection agency. And next they sent some Original Owners Policy of Title Insurance. I sincerely don't know what does it mean, if any body can explain it would be useful for all.
Anyway I will be keep on posting. You also keep on posting information.
Hi mandie, i just recently bought a ts and was given 2 months to pay the deposit, i'veonly paid $200 and have now found out it was a big big mistake to buy ts. as i havent started making repayments can i walk away dont mind loosing my $200 dollars. pls advice me
Obviously, this time share thing (getting people obligated over years and years to expenses they cannot manage) is a huge problem. On the one hand.. the purchasers made bad financial decisions. However, there seems to be a lot of duplicity on the part of timeshare sellers (high pressure sales tactics, high interest rates, etc).
Is there any organized effort that you are aware of to find a legal argument for suing the timeshare as a means of disposing of the timeshare. Would suing them for fraudulent practices, for instance, concern them enough to accept the timeshare back in lieu of payments? This just seems like an area that is ripe for a class action suit.. and or legal reforms.
Do you know of any such current actions being taken?
There really should be recourse for the people who were sucked up….my maintenance is now north of 900 per year…the resort leaves much to be desired…it use to be a world class…according to II…now i heard you wouldn't want to stay there….can't sell it…and can't give it away with out paying the maintenance….I've been wanting to just let them foreclose……you know…knock your socks off…do us a favor…
you would think if our trading is not as good…and there are are law suits against the management company…and we always have to pay the difference to make up $ in maintenance you wouldthink they could be sued for breach of contract. We should all bank together a lobby…. BLUEBEARDS…ST THOMAS…
Do you still own your ts at Bluebeards? I have one there that I would like to get rid of. Just curious if you’re still paying the maintenance fees.
Hi everyone,
Thanks Rhada for updating your status here… its very useful to know how you are doing so please keep posting. As for me, i'm still getting more specialized advice since my situation is a bit different because of the residence process i'm in the middle of. Currently i have a lawyer good friend of mine investigating how a potential foreclosure could affect me.
Again, Mandie thanks for opening this door.
Keny
Wow, this site is an eye opener.. Mandie, you're a wealth of information (a Godsend to some of us!).. I'm 31 have a family, a canadian citizen now working as a physician in the states. I got involved with starwood vacations when i had just begun residency in 2005. At the time it sounded great. had a single bedroom for $7 K.. 2 years back got it upgraded to a 2 bedroom for $14 K at 10.9% interest…We own our unit after every 2 years for a week. when i finally calculated what the unit would cost me over 7 years, it came to over $20 K ( i was just shocked). I'm thinking of selling this unit or foreclosing it now before I pay the remaining $11 K. Selling is not going to be easy and its going to force me to continue payments of $170.00 a month. If I foreclose, would my profession as a physician allow me to do that? I mean, I can't prove any financial hardship based on my income. The second thing is that since I'm on a visa working in the states, would a foreclosure affect that?(I know you're not a lawyer but I'd appreciate your input)..Thanks.(Radha, have safe trip to India!)
Hi Mandie,
I want to ask one more thing. You mentioned that there might be involved some legalities involved. Can you briefly tell me what kind of legalities you are talking about.
Please let me know.
Radha
Hi Mandie and Ken,
Thanks for updating your status.
I have been getting calls from TS persons but I am not lifting the phone. It has been 1 month now.
Since I have jumped into this well and decided not to pay back them I also left every thing on god, let us see what will happen. I will anyway keep posting the updates.
You guys also keep posting things..
Radha
Mandie,
Thanks for the advice! i'll contact some lawyer friends to check how this suit could affect me if it happens.
Radha, please keep posting on how your process evolves..
thanks!
Hi Ken,
I know nothing about establishing Canadian residency, so you should consult an expert in this area, but that said, to my knowledge your credit score here in the US on has an effect on your dealings within in the US. Here in the states, having a foreclosure on your record is not grounds to refuse residency, and I would imagine the same applies to Canada, especially you did not purchase the timeshare there.
Second, if you do get sued by the timeshare lender, you can be sued for any number of things including amount owed and court fees. The amount will depend on the amount owed on the timeshare. There are a lot of legalities involved with yours and Radha's cases that really do require someone with a bit more knowledge of the way international real estate works than myself, but I hope what little information I am able to provide is of some assistance to you.
Best of luck, be sure to check back in and let us know how it's going:)
HI Mandie, this is the 1st time i find some of the answers i have been looking for. My case is similar to Joey's or Radha's. I'm not a US resident and i dont live in the US. In may 2007 I made the mistake and signed up for a 3 bed deed in an Orlando TS during the breakfast showroom. So far i have been paying on schedule for a year and still have 9 years to go. However my ownership starts officially in 2009 so i havent paid any maintenance fees yet.
Based on what i have read, if you are a non US resident, stop your payments and follow on the Foreclosure process is the best way to get rid of the TS.
I have 2 questions to add, though:
1. Currently i'm in the process of getting the residence for Canada. It's been a year since I started the process and hopefully in less than a year from now i should get the answer. my question is: is there any chance that my residenceship process with Canada gets affected by the foreclosure? Can i get rejected because i stop the payments of a TS in the US??
2. Also about Mitch's question on the Law suit, what is the worst case if you do get sued?? Does this apply for non US residents as well?
Thank you very much for he advice
Mandie,
By the way, do you know anyone would take this time share? We are giving it out for free only whoever wants to take it will pay for all documents and process fee for transfer the title. Thank you again!
Patricia
I hate to say it, but don’t count on being able to resell it. They are all over EBay for $1 and less but nobody wants them because of the maintenance fees. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Mandie,
Thank you !
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
In the eyes of the law not paying a timeshare maintenance fee is the same as not making payments on a mortgage, and if you stop making your maintenance fee payments you will go into foreclosure with the timeshare property. My suggestion, since you have already paid off the property in full, would be to offer the property for free/$1 at auction using eBay, Craigslist or your local paper. For the right price (nothing) someone is bound to take it off your hands, even if a charity is not willing/able to do it at this point in time. Best of luck, let us know what you decide.
Best,
Mandie
Mitch,
Here are my responses to your questions, which should obviously not be treated as legal advice as I am only going from my own personal experiences and research I have done.
Does your credit rating absolutley only get affected within the borders of the USA? Yes, I have never heard of a FICO score existing in another country.
Does the record definitely last only 7 years? 7 years is the average number I have been given, but I can not say for sure this is an absolute.
After the 7 years will the mark on your record be considered in future finance applications? After 7 years it should be removed from your credit score, but I have been told by credit counselors that there are ways for financial institutions to "purge" information from more than 7 years if there is some concern about your financial stability. There are ways to pay to have these imperfections removed from your credit score.
Will this effect my abillity to travel to the USA/or anywhere in the future (tourist VISA applications). No, again, FICO credit scores are only applicable in the US.
How long will the process of foreclosure take? This depends on the state the foreclosure is taking place in and what their particular legal precedents call for; you will need to look up the information specific to that particular state.
What are chances of me getting sued, and how long until I know I am in the clear? Your chances of getting sued are quite low, but nonetheless, they do exist. This again depends state to state and per situation, I can not give you an exact time frame for being "in the clear" with regard to being sued for a remaining mortgage balance.
Hi Mandie,
My husband and I owned a Timeshare in South Lake Tahoe, NV. The timeshare already paid in full back several years ago. The maintence fee is going up every year. Now is alomost $1000 yearly. We do not want to owned this timshare anymore. We want to give this away or donate it. I have contacted several non-profit organizations. They said they cannot take it due to the location or other reason. How does affect us if we stop paying the yearly maintence fee? Please help. Thank you!
Patricia
Hi Mandie,
I am really struggling to pay for my timeshare, living and working in South Africa, with the strong dollar and weak rand the payments are more and more each month, I really need to know the answers to the questions I posted above because I need to make an informed decision soon?
Hi Mandie, btw a great and very informative website.
You mentioned to Radha, Joey and Odie that if payments cannot be paid and your timeshare goes into foreclosure…
I live in South Africa, I bought timeshare whilst on holiday in Las Vegas (give you a hint: sounds like "grandpoo" 😉 ).
Q's:
Does your credit rating absolutley only get affected within the borders of the USA?
Does the record definitely last only 7 years?
After the 7 years will the mark on your record be considered in future finance applications?
Will this effect my abillity to travel to the USA/or anywhere in the future (tourist VISA applications)
How long will the process of foreclosure take?
What are chances of me getting sued, and how long until I know I am in the clear?
My sincere condolences to all who are suckered into buying overpriced timeshare loaded with empty promises.
Hi,
As per your suggestion, I have removed auto debit for my timeshare and also I have changed the credit card number.
From this month onwards i have decided not to pay any thing for my timeshare.
But from Odie’s comment above, I want to know what kind of problem can these court papers cause to us.
Please answer asap.
Due to financial hardship, I can not longer pay my timeshare. I received court papers (Morgage Foreclosure Complaint)from Florida recently. Do I need to file an answer with the court if I’m letting it foreclose?I do not live in Florida.
Odie and Radha,
The court papers serve to inform you of the steps being taken in the foreclosure process. From everything I have read and personal accounts, I do not believe any action needs to be taken to let the court know you intend to proceed with the foreclosure; your silence will indicate your compliance with the process. Be sure to hold on to any paperwork you receive and follow through with any requests/attempts to contact you regarding this matter.
Be sure to keep checking back and update us on your progress.
My husband and I bought our timeshare 11 years ago and we were convinced by the resort where we bought that continuous upgrading was the way to go. After upgrading several times, we have now got such an outstanding balance and large monthly payment and enormous maintenance fees that we cannot pay them. My husband had to retire early and is on Social Security disability and only draws that plus his national guard retirement each month. I have had to quit work because of a knee injury and therefore we are living solely on my husband’s income which is about 1/2 what it was when we upgraded our timeshare about 2 years ago. We are both in our early 60s. We don’t own our home, we have 2 automobiles which we still owe on through our bank and we have a small little fishing boat that is worth about $1500. We do have a clear title on it. We owe almost $21,000 on our timeshare and our yearly maintenance fees are over $1,000. We cannot continue to pay this amount as we are going in debt each month more and more. We had to have a garage sale last month just to make our monthly payments. We have the monthly amount taken out of our bank account each month which is $355.42 and each month we are usually short about $400. I am trying everything I know to keep us from going under. We don’t care about our credit listing, we don’t own our home as we rent and have been here for over 10 years, we don’t care about any money we might lose, we just want out. We can’t really afford a lawyer at the present time. In January 2009 I will be old enough to draw my social security and that will be around $500. My husband was injured in Kuwait during active duty in 2004 while serving a year for our country thus the reason he is on SS disabilty. Is there NO WAY to get out from under this? We have tried to find out from several resourses and we don’t know which way to turn. We are afraid of losing our vehicles, our boat and also we are concerned about IRS coming down on us for this or having them take money out of his already low income. We have not missed a payment and we are current on all our maintenance fees but the fees are due again in November 2008 and we don’t see ANY WAY that we can pay them. We have both seen our health deteriorate and we have both been very stressed out because of this situation. We should have known better than to get into such a situation but the timeshare resorts are so convincing and just don’t seem to know how to take a “NO” for an answer, and we didn’t really see the end result until it was too late. We are both almost totally unable to even use our timeshare anyway and it won’t be paid in full for another 8 years. That is providing we even live that long. We will both be close to 70 and will have sunk a ton of money into it at 12.9% interest. PLEASE ADVISE US as to what we can do. We are so desperate and so upset over this that we can think of nothing else. We don’t rest at night and we both are so worried about what can happen to us and our assets. We don’t have much but our few household items and we don’t really own anything of value other than our vehicles, boat and some tools that belong to my husband. Thank you so much for your advice and for any help you might give us or any suggestions you might have. Sincerely, Janet
RELAX and itemize your priorities. Home/car/utilities/food, etc. The timeshare will fall at the very bottom of the list. Ours did. Then REST in the assurance they CAN’t make you pay, they can only threaten. My husband is on disability and I’m on SS. Go through the process knowing you did the best you can. You will be OK. Promise
Mary I’m on disability too and my wife works a small job we still owe 18,000 on a time share in orange lake florida, and are almost
two months behind and have maint fee’s of 800.00 to pay yet and we just can’t do it any more what can you suggest. we do not own our home we are still buying, and paying on our car. we live in pa. any comments would help i don’t want to lose my house or any assests.
relax — if your credit report is bad and you owe more than you have, they will not sue you since it is wasted money for them.
the PA statute of limitations is 4 years
Please Everyone, doNOT do this to yourselves! Pay the fee to the bank to discontinue any drafts you no longer wish to pay, get ready for a storm of calls which you can choose to answer or ignore. All that can be taken from you is the property you guaranteed the loan with (which you do not care about anymore anyway) and in the end they may put a bad report on your credit (not the worst thing that can happen to you) If the credit part worries you in the least then you have the right to attach an explanation of any negative information shown to all 3 credit reports.
MOST OF ALL DO NOT LET THIS CAUSE YOU UNDUE STRESS!
Best of luck to you all and SMILE, it helps when the stress starts getting to you :}
AMEN! to Vikki’s reply. It has been said over/over again on this site. JUST DO IT NOW! Get rid of the grief. With the condition of our country and the world is in WHY is anyone allowing these petty thieves ruin their lives day after day. The HECK w/the credit issue. Afterall, our illustrious country has been grossly insulted by present gov’t. by being own graded, and if you think this is the end, THINK AGAIN! So, don’t let a LITTLE thing like a TS ruin your life. God bless all of you.
Vikki/Mary…what TS did you have and are you both out of it? I’m still in the process, I want to know what else to expect from TS company. So far phone calls and letters, going to our 3rd mth of non-payment. Please advise. Thanks!
Hi Chuck,
Please refer to this article – Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure for more information. If you still have questions, please post in that article.
Best,
Mandie
Please explain "Deed in lieu", regarding foreclosure.
Thank you very much.
Hi Joey and Radha,
Please, please, please do not worry about being thrown in jail for not paying off a timeshare!!
Basically, the only legal recourse a lender has to collect a debt owed is to place a lien on your assets (which rarely happens in timeshare) and report your delinquency to the major credit reporting companies (which often happens).
In both of your cases, honesty is going to be your best policy, let your timeshare company/lender know that you will no longer be able to make payments on your vacation property, and that you will be proceeding with foreclosure preceedings. Oftentimes, if a lender or timeshare developer knows there is no way you are going to continue paying, they will offer other options to borrowers, such as a “deed in lieu of foreclosure”, which is mentioned above. These companies do not want to spend the extra money and effort in order to take your time share property back, so as long as you are straight forward, honest and make the process as simple as possible, you have nothing to worry about – other than a hit to your credit score, which obviously does not apply.
Please check back and let us know what you both have done, and do not be afraid to come back and visit the US because of an unpaid timeshare. Best of luck to you both!
I had two timeshares, one with RCI and another one outright. I contacted both companies and turned the timeshares back over to them with no cost. Try that…it works!!
Chris,
Were they paid for or did you owe money on them?
I can only speak to customer service and they say I can’t give it bacck. Can you just not pay maintenance anymore and what happens? Can they garnish wages or go after assets?
Hello, everyone with TS!
I feel all the pain and frustrations about TS payments.
I have the same problem, I can’t get rid of this TS headache.
My advice to everyone is not to purchase this kind of business.
I will not pay anymore neither and wait what Wyndham do. They own the property and selling it to nonmembers
and they are taking vacations and relaxing with our payments.
Regina
Chris,
How did you go about turning your timeshares back over to them with no cost? Please help i have 2 timeshares we can no longer afford them.
Thanks
Cindy
Hi Carol,
The easiest way to stop automatic payments is to contact your bank and let them know you are no longer going to be authorizing automatic payments to your timeshare company. Make sure you have the company’s exact name, as it shows up on your account statements, so they can easily make the change; this will, in effect, “block” them from access to your account. You can usually do this via the web (if you do online banking) by filling out a few forms, over the phone depending on your bank’s policies, or in person at your local branch. This is a lot easier and less painless than switching banks.
There is no need to let your timeshare company know that you have stopped payment, they will realize soon enough after the missed payment, and expect frequent, harassing, telephone calls to being within the first few weeks of a missed payment. Be sure to speak with them directly at some point though, as many timeshare companies will try to offer different options to owners in order to avoid the fees incurred by a vacation property foreclosure.
Good luck and be sure to check back and let us know how it goes!
Radha, have you done anything about your timeshare? Am in a similar situation. I am losing my job soon and would have to go back to my homecountry. Would appreciate any update on what to do. I don't care about credit rating anymore since I won't be staying in the US anyway but I don't want to go to jail or anything like that. As far as I am concerned the resort can take the timeshare back and resell it and I will just consider the money I paid as loss.
My loan payments & membership fees are automatically deducted from my accounts. How do I stop these payments if I plan to foreclose?
After having a negative balance in my checking account for a couple months and using my savings to pay the TS costs it was easy to close my account and move to another bank. Having the bank charge me $5 a month because I didn’t have direct deposit also prompted me to close the account. They made a TS payment for me after I closed the account! Then told me over the phone that any payments due within 30 days would keep the account open giving me a larger negative balance. I visited the local branch and paid the outstanding balance and they let the overdrawn charges go.
Go to your bank and pay the stop payment fee, usually $30. It’s legal. Do it NOW!
Mary, I live in NC, will the timeshare go against my credit?
I do not know, as my credit is already shot due to medical, personal and other issues. To be honest, I DON’T CARE about my credit rating because WHEN this United States of America’s credit rating dumps, ALL of ours in this country will as well. Sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance than that. I don’t even check my credit rating, it’s low, and I don’t even care if there are errors on it. That may sound like I’m blindsided, but I can’t worry about the past, the present, OR the future. God is in control.
In Virginia an attorney must be involved in the transfer of timeshare property. The cheapest way to go about transferring a timeshare deed with attorney involvement is to have the document prepared by an outside title transfer service and then turn it over to the attorney for review. Be aware that there will also be fees for closing costs in addition to attorney fees and the deed preparation. Having these documents prepared using an online service will save you money, here are a few websites that offer time share deed preparation services, these may be of assistance to you in your situation:
Transfer My Timeshare
Timeshare Title, Inc.
Bach Porch
Please let us know how this works out for you! All the best.
Hi, just a quick question.
A friend of my wife has a timshare that has been completely paid off and they no longer use it anymore since they have a few others and she wants to transfer it over to us for free.
What is the least expensive way to transfer this deed? We live in VA. Do we have to get a deed company involved or lawyers? Thanks for any help you can provide.
Did you find the answer to this question. We want to give ours up and also live in Virginia. They are all paid off and we do not want to pay anything else. Just get rid of them period. Would love to know what you have learned,
thank you,
Bess
The cheapest way to take over someone else’s TS or give yours away is that if there is maintenance fees still owing, you or whoever is going to take over the TS MUST pay up, in full, any back maintenance fees, otherwise they will not trans. deed or let you use the TS. In addition, if maint. fees are paid up, it’s a matter of all parties signing papers and the TS people will do the deed work. The current owner will simply have to contact the TS people to inform them of who and when the TS will be transferred. They can lead you through the process. It’s not like deeding over a home or “real” real estate.
Hi Mandie,
Thanks for your reply. I would like to tell you that I dont belong to USA. And I want to leave for my home country. Currently staying in USA, so can you please tell me if I want to leave US will it be any kind of problem. or If I want to come US again then will there be any problem.
Thanks for your mail.
Kalyan
Hi Radha,
I would say that your resort is not likely to agree to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure based on the amount of money you still have left to pay on the principal balance of the timeshare. Most likely what will happen if you stop paying the remaining amount is that the property will go into foreclosure, at which point you would be expected to take part in legal proceedings related to the foreclosure of the timeshare property. Depending on whether or not you have any liens placed on the timeshare, the lender may have the option to seize any assets placed as a lien on the loan.
My first suggestion for you would be to contact your lender/timeshare developer and tell them that you are unable to continue payments and see what options you may have to release all ties with the resort. If the only option they present to you is to proceed with a foreclosure, seek legal counsel to keep your losses at a minimum. Please let us know how this process goes for you, I wish you all the best.
Wynless Vacations financial department said over the phone that after 190 days of NON PAYMENT they would offer a deed in lieu of foreclosure. I’ve already paid $30k for 2 previous deeds with Fairfield. Then was talked into consolidation giving up those 2 valuable deeds, and taking on another $29k to own a VIP TS 0f 343,000 points in National Harbor, MD. @nd month of non payment will be up shortly. They’re calling 3-4x daily and get my answer machine message which tells them “all calls are screened and solicitor’s calls are not accepted.” They hangup. Wynless has sent a letter saying I’ll receive a payment book because attempts to reach my autopayment account have been unsuccessful. That was 3 weeks ago. I’ve talked to lawyers and they tell that by taking the new contract I WILL NOT BE REFUNDED ANY MONEY PREVOIUSLY INVESTED. Since Wynless bought Fairfield TS costs have increased.
We were in the same boat of Wynless buying out Fairfield. Both of our timeshares were paid in CASH at time of purchase. That’s when all our choices stopped. No more cruises, air fare; only a room somewhere in the world.
Why don’t we all form a class action law suit against Wynless?
i agree on forming a class action
i had a timeshare thru Worldmark by Wyndham that I signed up for (regretfully was a big BIG BIG mistake of my life!), my monthly payments then were automated to be taken out of my bank account and I never really paid attention to it after I set that up but I noticed the payment history was inconsistent on my bank statements where it showed I was late 30 days, then 60 days and I have been trying to fight it against them. Why would I set myself up with an automatic payment out of my own bank account and expect them to credit it after the payment due date???
Long story short, the account went to collections and then later repossessed as it is shown on my credit report
I have never ever been able to use it at all, but now I am in debt for over 10K and it is the only thing that is ruining my credit!
I am in need of some serious HELP from a legal standpoint on how I am going to be able to work around this.
Legally all you can do is notify the three credit bureaus of your story to get your side of it on the record. It may or may not help, and will fall off anywhere between soon and 7 years. What’s done is done, but ALL of us on this list needs to be trying to find out how we go about a class action law suit.
Hi,
I want to know one information. I am owning a timeshare with west gate resorts and spa in Orlando. I still owe some 18k to them. And I paid them 3K till today. I want to know if I stop paying the remaining amount then you said the developer will do some kind of foreclosure. So what do you mean by that. Will the developer take some kind of police action or do I need to go to any kind of court about the legal proceedings. Please let me know.
Hi Radha,
I was wondering what ever happened with your TS. Did the company come after you and if so, what were the consequences?
I appreciate your response as I am in the same boat and need to know what to expect.
Thank you,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Ya the Timeshare company send few emails and asked me to send 400 usd so that they can foreclosure it and they will also remove any related negative credit history for that related. but I said I wont send 400 usd and can send the signed papers, but I didnt send them, Now I am not getting any emails from them. Take it easy dont pay and dont panic for the threat calls. No one can shoot you or put you in prison.
Radha, what is the TS company you had? Did they foreclose, what happened? Please share your experience and whether you actually had to fight them in court. Thank you!
Racheal,
I would say the chances of having a deed in lieu of foreclosure prepared for your timeshare really depends on where the resort is and whether or not you have paid off the entire principal balance of the timeshare. If you are not behind on payments, have paid the principal balance and have a desirable timeshare – whether it be a good location or excellent points program – then your chances are good that an agreement can be met with a deed in lieu of. If the former are not true, and you already have some delinquency recorded, it is not likely that your lender will allow you to stop payments with a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
The best thing you can do, if you are current with payments and have paid the balance in full is to stop paying your maintenance fee and wait until your Owners Association (or HOA) turns your account over to a third party collection firm. After the collection firm has used up all their typical methods (like threatening letters and phone calls), they will usually advise you that your home resort will accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
If you are successful in reaching an agreement with the lawyers, developers and any other party involved with your timeshare, you will need to make sure you get it in writing that this will not be recorded and reported to credit agencies in order to save your credit score. If the deed gets recorded inaccurately it will look like you were delinquent with payments and can sometimes look worse than actually foreclosing.
As for the lender being able to go after your home, or any other personal property in order to collect payment for a timeshare foreclosure, this will only happen if you have a lien on the timeshare.
A deed in lieu of foreclosure is a great way to remove yourself of all ties with the timeshare you no longer with to own. Please let us know how the process works out for you!
Our time share is in such prime real estate, US Virgin Islands, they would take it back in a moment, but would rather harass instead. Make them the offer.
I am trying to ask the timeshare lawyers to do a deed in lieu of instead of a foreclosure. what are the chances of them doing that? they cannot go after my home, right? how will they collect any legal fees owed to them? by calling me continuosly?
This is a reply to Effie: I live in NC. All I had to do was write a hardship letter and send to TS.
Message to Racheal: Go to ask.com and get your legal answers for a small fee.
Florida, around Clearwater. He can't fly anymore and has one of those scooter things to get around in. It is a shame they will spend the money to forclose when they can just have it without spending that money. No wonder they are in trouble.
Most timeshares have a “hardship” clause that will get you out. Call them and they WILL tell you if you have that clause and will immediately cancel your timeshare. I did it on the 3rd one (yeah we were REALLY stupid, that’s why I know so much about this stuff) and we got out.
Hi Mary,
My timeshare in LV already paid off, now they sent closing costs invoice which to begin processing my deed & title Ins. that i have to be paid $840.00. I want to get out of it with stupid increase maintenance fee every year, where can i find a “hardship” clause? what can i do? do i have to pay this closing cost? thanks.
You should be able to call them and notify them of a hardship; illness, financial distress. I was stupid enough to buy a 3rd timeshare and financed it unlike the first two I paid cash for. They let me out by signing one simple paper. They wanted it back to resell anyway, that’s why I don’t understand why they just don’t take all these unwanted ones back to resell…I guess it’s because they are already reselling and overselling that’s why we can never get reservations.
Mary, in what state do you live? What type of document did you have to sign? We are in a very bad financial situation and need some relief. We own at Silverleaf in Texas and Orlando. We have one week paid for and one we got coerced into buying a second one for added flexibility of use at different times of the year, multiple locations.
I know it may be hard to hear, but if you do not have any luck giving the timeshare away either to charity or otherwise, I would just let your dad foreclose on the property. The only thing a foreclosure is going to do is make it hard for him to take out a loan or purchase big ticket items, they are not going to seize any of his assets of deduct any money from his social security/pensions for the foreclosure. Again, I know it is not a pleasant solution, but I strongly urge you to think about it. Where is the property located?
if we decide to foreclose our timeshares would they try to levy our bank accounts?
Not even in the US, where corporate greed is king. They aren’t the IRS, they cant do squat except bluster and lie to try and trick you into letting them further rob you. Walk away, ignore them. There is nothing they can do about it.
i hope so..that is the only reason we are afraid to foreclose. we can no longer afford our timeshares and the maintenance fees. thanks ron…i guess if we cant afford it anymore why do we even try and give our little money.
Unfortunately I haven’t heard of a body that regulates the laws for time shares (or any law that favors timeshare owners). While developers are becoming richer and richer, owners are stuck with properties that are not worth the price they paid and also stuck with maintenance fees that can hardly afford.
Also if you are planning to donate your time share and deduct it from your IRS keep in mind the tax regulations on gifts from our state
I’ve heard they do and come after you??? Help
Issue a cease and desist order. They CANNOT ignore that. That will stop ALL calls, visits. They can sue, but you can just not appear. If the amount you owe falls under small claims court all you’ll get is a judgement against you and it will NOT appear on your credit report unless the credit bureau goes directly to the court house and finds it in the docket books. Remember the scam tactics they pulled on you to buy? Well, that’s what they’re using to get you to pay. IF they attempted to sue/collect from all of us who are walking away….good luck. They can’t afford it. Most of use owe LESS than their attorney fees would cost even if they threaten to “make” you pay those fees.
I just posted a few minutes ago. Notice to North Carolina owners, NO ONE except a gov’t entity can put a lien on your real estate property. So what if they foreclose. It’s only one mark against your credit. I stopped worrying about credit ratings years ago when I figured out that even if/when you pay off a bill, most creditors WILL NOT/DO NOT report the payment in full and the credit bureaus won’t believe you, even if you show them proof. If it doesn’t come from the creditor you are stuck. The creditor also will NOT send you a letter of payment in full. I never worry about credit issues anymore. I don’t use credit/loans, and was able to buy a car last year for what I needed and could afford. Life doesn’t end with credit ratings or bureau reports. There are so many more important things in life these days. Timeshares are incidential. Relax
Time share sales are illegal in NC, we stupidly bought one in SC, which sold to Holiday INN and I couldn’t even get a
schedule of all the payments we had made and how much of what was applied to principal and interest, and they have changed ALOT of the contract agreements that we signed, I am seeing a lawyer to get out of this contract
WHOA! Don’t get a blood sucking lawyer. I live in NC and there’s nothing they can do, attach to, put a lien against, just forget about it. I haven’t paid maint. fees in 3 years, but my 2 TS’s are paid for, so I just cut my losses and called it quits, but I did get a good 8 years travel out of them, so I’m not out anything. Before you waste your $ on a lawyer, first check the consumer advocacy laws in the state of NC.
What about a timeshare you purchased in Mexico which is governed under Mexican law but the company that collects is in the US?
mandie if it is located in orange lake florida if you forclose what can they do. can they take your house or any other assets i still owe on my house.
Thanks, he does not have a house anymore. He moved in senior housing and needs all his money for his rent now. (Social Security and pension are not enough) The timeshare was taken over a few years ago and the "new" people keep adding extra administrative costs so that it costs about $2000.00 a wk for maintenance fees. NO one will buy a deal like that because I have relatives that aren't far from where it is and they tell me the new people are letting the place get trashed and cut back on all their services. NO one would want to buy it now with the new owners. I worry because before my mother died, she and my dad put my name on the deed for survivorship rights, but I don't want it at all.
quitclaim it back to your dad and get your name off of it.
Hi Sharon,
Unfortunately I do not have any other advice for you than what I have mentioned to Gary above. You may want to try giving the timeshare away to someone else via taking out an ad on Craigslist or eBay. Also do some research on donating the timeshare to charity – there is a link in my reply to Gary on how to do this. I suppose the last and final resort would be to actually go ahead and foreclose on the property, which may actually not be that bad for your father if he has his house, car, etc. paid off; i.e. he may be in a position where it would be ok to take a hit on his credit. Let us know what you decide and if you need any help. Best regards.
My father is retired and my mother died. He cannot use the timeshare anyomore and the company keeps charging additional maintenance fees ( last year it was 2000.00 for one week) He had not paid the fees the last couple years hopin ghthey will take it back because they won't take it back the other way. He has not paid it and wants to give it back but they say they can't take it. He added my name on it for survivorship, but I don't want it either and I don't want to be stuck with his problem. Is there anything we can do. We want to give it back and save them collection costs but they don't want it back.
Hi Gary,
If your timeshare is paid off in full you can often give it to charity even if the resort will not take it back. Another option would be to "sell" the timeshare for an extremely low cost, even free, letting the buyer know that all they will be responsible for is paying the maintenance fees. I would suggest putting an ad up for the timeshare on your local Craigslist, eBay or in your local paper. Best of luck!
Useful links:
Charities that accept timeshare
Alternative Timeshare Sales Options
Selling a Timeshare
Yeah…I wouldn’t count on that. Most of us here who have been down that route know it only leads to frustration after talking to scam artist after scam artist. If you can’t sell it for $1, why would a charity want something with zero value. Many con artists are involved in these charity donation scams. Only one choice as those of us with experience know – walk away. Walk away, walk away, walk away. There is not other solution. Sorry.
I tried to sell, give away and donate my right-to-use vacation time at Club Land’OR. Even the charities that take vacation properties/timeshares would not accept any at Land’Or. Too old, too run down and too many negative reviews.
TB
We owned our timeshare for 20 years, never set foot in it after buying it, but exchanged it and went somewhere every year. The maintenance fees kept going up, and we have two dogs and it became increasingly hard to find an exchange, so we decided to get rid of it. I advertised in large cities withing 200 miles, got one reply, but it was the wrong week. So I looked on E-Bay and Craigs List, and saw there were a lot of timeshares listed, but no takers, even at one dollar and the buyer paid title fees. So, then we started getting calls from the scammers. Everything from $400-$600 up front fees TO ADVERTISE the timeshare. No guarantees they would sell it. Then there were agents who had ten interested parties who wanted to buy at our resort. But there was an up front fee. I don’t remember what that was for. Maintenance fees are “in perpetuity”, so there is no walking away. Our resort was suing. Finally we paid a company $1900 to take title to the timeshare and they transferred it to another party. We were apprehensive and actually walked away, but when we got to our car decided to do it. We went back in and signed the papers, paid the fee and went home. The transfer agent e-mailed a Power of Attorney to transfer the title, and we found out later it was bought by a wine company. We were reluctant to pay to get out of the timeshare, but are glad we did it. We were concerned about the liability of timeshare maintenance fees transferring to our kids when we were gone, as well as possible assessments for major repairs. One thing in our case was that our contract was paid up and our maintenance fees were current. Good luck to anyone trying to get rid of your timeshare any other way.
Who did you use
Hi all, a really useful site, thanks. Been reading through the posts and now made the decision to stop any further payments for our TS in Panama City, Florida and see what happens. We live in the UK and have still got a few years left to pay on the TS but we now cannot afford the £140 per month plus maintenance fees. I emailed the TS Company ‘Holiday Inn’ to say we no longer wanted the timeshare but they said it was our responsibility to find new owners….. this is not going to happen so I looked online to see how easy it would be to just sell it via a ‘we’ll buy your timeshare website’ but it was all a big scam – my advice is do not trust ANY of those type of sites offering to sell the TS for you! they wanted us to travel miles to their office, pay £50 to secure a meeting etc….sounded very dodgy from the start so we didn’t bother. So, after reading through this site we are going to just cancel all payments. I’ll email Holiday Inn and inform them of this and then will ignore any phone calls and letters and hope they just take the TS back. Will keep you posted!
If they send you letters or call you, you can demand that they cease and desist ALL contact. Legally, in the US, they HAVE to. So, if they harass you, just send them a letter with your name/address/and acct# and tell them to “cease and desist from any further contact with you, effective immediately”. Send it postal, certified mail and if you can, get a return receipt that will come back to you to prove that you send them the letter. Go for it!
they won’t harass you anymore but they will foreclose.
Is it any easier to terminate if the balance is paid in full? I bought a timeshare at Virginia Beach, VA in 1995, paid it off completely, but have never used it. I offered to give it back for free because I don't want to pay maintenance fees for something I don't use. When I called the resort they said they couldn't take it and I have to keep paying the fees.
Believing that non payment of timeshare is happening more frequently, I’m wondering why there aren’t more postings of what is happening to people going through the procedures. Don’t timeshare owners access the net to make reservations so they should be familiar with how to navigate and search. Come on people, let us know what the consequences really are.
I haven’t posted because not much is happening. It appears Wyndham has turned ours over to a collection agency, and they cal about once a day. We don’t answer the phone. We haven’t made a payment since October. We are trying to file for bankruptcy, so if that goes through, I’m hoping this will all go away, but we’ll see.
I wonder how Wyndham’s Hotel business would fare if it got out that they were continually victimizing people and acting as co-conspirators to fraud and extortion, which they are. Maybe it is time for Facebook and Twitter to foment a revolt against these jerks as well.
What a briliant idea, it goes right along with my idea to thwart sales nicely. Maybe we should all be creating events at our home resorts with many others in same boat and boycotting further sales until they let people out of maintenance fees when no longer able to use the property. Lord knows they get enough out of us in the cost of the week. Time to send their scam right back at them.
Oh poor little timeshare salesman. By spoiled people you must mean all the happy customers in this newsgroup. Its only slander if its lies. We don’t have to exaggerate to expose the outright fraud, extorion, and criminal behavior of the timeshare industry. Go to hell!
why don’t we all go to the Dr. Phil show?
It will go away in bankruptcy, unless you are dumb like we were and bought them back from the bankruptcy. Oh if we knew now what we knew then,, we have 3, never use them, pay ridiculous maintenance fees and have never got neAr the use out if them that they cost us in the 20 years of o wnership. I tell everyone, even on vacation,, to avoid hem at all costs. I can’t even donate them as they charge you to do that, you can’t gift them to family without a $500 fee. Whichi wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy anyway.i am tempted to go to the company and tell them, either they take it back or i will come every year to my home resort and spend the entire time telling all their new prospective buyers all about how stupid it is to get involved.
hi. we got a timeshare at west gate resort in florida. we have it since 2007 and now it is being a pain in the butt. We still owe them about 16000 i think and in contract for 10 yrs. we know we are wasting money on this but now i’ve found this website, i thinking of what i should do. Theres 3 of us written on the deed, we were all friends but it looks like it was named just on one person and she receives all the IRS and she is the one who pays the westgate. Now, we are planning not to start paying this april after reading this entire thread. But my question is, how do you think it will affect our credit score? do you think, it will affect the 3 of us or just the main person? we are planning to foreclose this crazy timeshare. one of us owns a condo and she was wondering if foreclosing this thing will affect her mortgage though she’s not the main person Do we just stop paying them and they will give us a note of foreclosure in few months? Do you think they’ll bring us to court? oh my go? it scares the heck out of me since were filing american citizenship on november.. Should we go ahead and look for an attorney or wait until they give us notice? we need help!!!!
If you follow through with your conspiracy to damage this or any other business you might want to educate yourself on the ramifications on slander, Tortious interference,etc. You making a personal choice not to use a product is not them scamming you but you scamming yourself and your family out of a chance to enjoy your lives. You bought it , now own the decision and make the most of it. Whatever company you work for, I can just as easily point out how “corrupt” and or “unfair” their policies are , and how they need to be stopped. There are two sides to every story and somewhere in between lies the truth. You signed on the dotted line and that’s the bottom line and not taking your family and children on vacations should be condemned not the companies that provide you a way to do so. Don’t spread your cancer and self loathing on to anyone else, there are over 4 million people who own and enjoy timeshare. Then there are people like you , who thinks the world owes them something and wants a perpetual red carpet rolled out for them while they walk on rose petals
To the timeshare salesman below: you’re a piece of filth that should be banned from doing business just like the rest of you timeshare salesmen. Your work ethics are worth crap! You all scheme and lie to innocent people who are just trying to take their families on vacation to then trap them in taking on added debt knowing full well that you all lack in customer service. I hope you find yourself in the same position one day. I hope you get stuck on ALL your payments to have the creditors tell you “You signed the dotted line, now deal with it”. I hope and pray that you all go out of business leaving all you scammers with NO JOB!
DON’T have to have the phone calls. Send them via certified mail, a cease and desist letter that will stop ALL calls immediately. I just got threatened by Wyndham. Check via the web all the law suits they have AGAINST THEM. It appears that if your time share like ours (2 of them in St. Thomas USVI) are paid in full, so all they’re out is the maint. fees & taxes. We have not used any timeshare in years, and now our maint. fees are up to $5,000 after over 2 years. There should be a statute of limitations in which they can threaten, foreclose (haven’t checked into that). Just recovering from a nasty threatening conversation saying they’d pull mine/husband’s credit reports, send us to collections, and then to a lawyer who would determine IF we are able to pay, which we are not…husband on disability, me on SS. We even qualify for FREE medical care and medicine via our local hospital/doctors/free clinic/and pharmaceutical companies, so I seriously doubt they can determine ABILITY TO PAY! In the grand scheme of things, it is more important that we pay our home mortgage, elec/heat/phone/food and other needful things. Hope some of this helps and if anyone else out there has any advice for us, please feel free to chime in. I’m all ears. All I know is that I am NOT paying; CAN’T. I take a hard line on scamers and collectors.
there is a statue of limitations — in most states it is four years, after that they cannot sue you. One thing to know is that if you send them any payments, even a dollar, it restarts the clock, so once you stop, do not ever send anything until you have a DIL or are past four years.
we have a timeshare in Westgate Smokey Mountains Resorts and we are unable to make anymore payments , we owe $6,300 and was wondering if anyone knew if they would take it back or what our options are. any information will help
Hi Elaine,
We have been pondering the thought of just not paying our Wyndham timeshare mortgage/fees, etc. We’re deeded at Bonnet Creek in Orlando…of course told that this location would actually grow in value!
I’d love to have an update from you… I hope you have been successful and have not had any negative results from this!
Thanks so much,
Melissa
Thanks
Hi Elaine,
We had a worldmark time share and stopped paying it 6 months ago. Just got the collection notice in the mail. Just wanted to know what became of your situation. Thanks
I haven’t heard from any of the time share people in a while. We had Orange Lake and Wyndham. We got a letter from Orange Lake a while ago saying our contract had been cancelled. We have had no official notice from Wyndham. I’m hoping that’s the end of it. Our credit is in bad shape, but that is due to more than just the time shares, so I can’t tell how much damage it did.
on credit karma, they say the hit is 100-150 points for a foreclosure or collection activity — the higher your score, the bigger the hit
I have an update as to what can happen if you stop paying. Have owned ‘right to use’ vacation property since 1982 and purchased time over the years with 3 contracts at Club Land’Or resort. Its HQ is in Virginia and so are we. Paid cash, never traded, went every year, never late (sometimes early) with Main. Fees and almost yearly assessments. It hurt with the linear increase in what they wanted and much of it for renovation that never happened but we did what we had to do so we could use our weeks. I was forced to take early retirement, hubby lost small business, out of work and major medical event left us almost broke in 2009. Reduced all expenses we could and working with Feds to help with mortgages. I am on SS and hubby finally found work but not making much so still struggling with monthly bills. Land’Or or any vacation has become a luxury we can no longer afford if we want a roof over our heads, lights and food. Tried to sell, give back, give away, donate…no results. Still have over 10K invested in vacation weeks we will never use but no matter what I say they have no mercy. Owe 2 main fees and two assessments. No deed so nothing to foreclose but they could ‘let us go’ and still a lot of our money in the bank (we sure don’t have it) and can then resell our weeks. Called us many times and now they will send to collections next week and not only for what we owe but they added what we will owe for the rest of 2012 so its over $3000. Once they realize we cannot pay I am sure they will sue us. If court garnishes my hubby all we have done to keep our home will be for nothing. Its NOT that I don’t want to pay but there is no way. I sure wish I could find out what happens next from someone who has been thru this.
they can threaten you all they want, but they will not sue you. you do not have to worry about being sued. it should occur to you that a business would lose money if it sued. and a court will not garnish wages for a commercial debt — taxes, child support, yes, commercial debt, no. they are just trying to scare you into giving them your money so they get their commission. if you get a letter from a collections agency say you challenge the debt.
I have felt sick reading this forum. How may of us are “stuck”. My timeshare is paid up, no one wants it for free, checked on deedback, no luck. I went to Suze Orman website and posted it as question for her show. What if lots of us did the same? Maybe her advice might help all of us…
Don’t make yourself sick over this, it’s not worth it. You just have to come to terms with cutting your losses in the money you’ve invested. We bought 2 for CASH, got at least 8 good years out of them and figured we would’ve paid that much money out on trips anyway. They CANNOT touch you if you stop the maintenance fee payments, you just can’t use the TS. Were you using it at all? We used ours twice a year so it was quite a blow to have to let it go but you can book your own travel cheaper now then when we got our TS’s. RELAX, what’s done is done. Don’t let them drag you further into the cutter fretting over spiled milk. SMILE!
Oh yes they can do something when you don’t pay mtce fees. We are now into collections phase and then they will sue us for $3000. Thats all we owe as we paid cash for the contract.
Look at my post of Feb 6 2012
you sound almost like a collections shill who is trying to scare people into sending them cash. they will not sue you. the worst they can do is call you and make empty threats, and put in collections on your credit knocking your credit score down 100 points.
an ironic, funny thing that happened to us was a florida timeshare that put us through this, with nasty collectors we would not answer and a black mark in our collection — the a letter from the timeshare after 3 years asking us to sign and send back a deed in lieu — with a note saying that we should not take it personally, but to please sign the deed or they would have to pay for foreclosure.
it is the nasty collections companies who do the lying and threatening — just ignore them
I am right there with you. Being the kind of person I am, I can’t help but worry about this as I like to pay my debts and honor my contracts. I wish timeshare companies felt the same way about us. So many have asked on here about what’s happening now that they stopped paying, so I thought I would share my experiences.
I currently have 2 timeshares. Yes, I’m that naïve. The first one was purchased through Lando Resorts and it is called Vacation Village at Parkway in Florida, a beautiful resort and perfect location. I bought it about 4 years ago in my mid 20’s and vacationing was new to me. I fell completely for their sales pitch but given my current financial status, could only buy a triannual deed (I pay monthly payments to use it once every 3 years and pay maintenance fees once every 3 years too). It is recorded on file with the Orlando county courthouse. I checked recently as another timeshare salesman told me that I could stop paying and what could they do since timeshares are not recorded. Well, buddy, thanks for lying, but it is and so it is treated just like a house mortgage. You don’t pay, you foreclose. Seems unfair given that they can just take it back and not have to pay much to do all that (I’d even be willing to pay those fees). I don’t know what their big stink is because it seems they’d make more money in selling the same product over and over instead of trying to get payment out of me for months. So, I stopped paying when I lost my job almost 3 months ago. The calls from them started pretty quickly and occur daily whether I talk to them or not. I am at 65 days now and as of my last conversation with them this week, have until day 91 to make any kind of payment before it goes to collections. Some don’t believe they really will, but according to my research, they can and will. I just started working again and once I get things in order, plan to buy a house (a major dream of mine). I spoke with a mortgage lender at Wells Fargo and asked the question many on here were asking. If I foreclose on the TS, will it affect my credit and ability to buy a house? She said yes and it will show as a foreclosure for about 3-5 years from the time of settlement, not from when I stop paying. Banks see it the same as a house foreclosure too.
I realize now that the TS will, if I use it like it’s meant, will one day pay me back. But that will be years down the road and in the meantime, I am wasting precious money when I could get more flexibility and save by planning my vacations as desired, not on their time table. I love staying there, but want my freedom back. So I will be paying on it again until it’s paid off or sold, very unlikely as that is, simply because I refuse to let them take my good credit too.
I have talked to Sell My Time Share Now who of course promises to be different than all others. Any feedback on them? I need to do my research. Sandralee, I’ve also posted a general comment on Suze Orman’s page about this issue, so we’ll see.
The other timeshare story is even more dramatic if anyone is interested. 🙁
here is something I would think about —
if you look on ebay, you will see that your TS has a value of about 0. So, anything you pay on the mortgage is cash thrown away.
you still have to pay the maintenance fee, which is possibly more than just renting the week, or another week you might like better at a place you like better.
They will say that they will send you to collections and eventually foreclose. Yes, you will get calls from collectors who will harass you, but you can ignore. They will want to get the deed back when they realize that you won’t pay the collectors — but nearly all of them will then offer a deed in lieu of foreclosure instead of paying the legal fees for an actual foreclosure.
We have had 4 weeks foreclosed, and none of them show up on our credit report — I don’t know why except that they don’t want to pay for it. We do have lots of items in collections, but they affect your credit but do not wipe it out.
credit karma does a good job of describing the parts of your credit score and has a real free one if you want one.
If you owe (mortgage) on the TS and still pay the maint. fees, you still CANNOT use it. You’d have to be update on both payments and maint. fees. If you own the TS outright, no loan against it, you can simply cut your losses, stop the maint fee payments and walk away. There is NO repercussions on that.
Hi Bill,
We have been pondering the thought of just not paying our timeshare mortgage/fees, etc. We’re deeded at Bonnet Creek in Orlando…of course told that this location would actually grow in value!
The only part that really bothers me is that we paid off our first purchase of 154,00 points (1 wk) and was then scammed into thinking it was not points, it was week 52 no less, in Newport, RI. “You need to buy another 154 which will give you two wks at Bonnet Creek…the only way to get into Bonnet Creek.” Such BS. We tried to fight Wyndham for three months after that, no luck.
Thanks
we had a marriott week in Las Vegas, and it made no sense for us. We didn’t pay the annual fee and stopped the monthly payments. we were harassed by a collector after about 60 days for another 60 days, then they gave us a deed in lieu of foreclosure letter that ended the contract. We lost what we had paid, and the collector filed a bad comment about us on the credit report, but the in collections report only knocked about 75 points from our credit score
Marissa – Take it from an old geezer, you need to sit down and do some long term planning. First, buying a house is no longer a very good investment. Unless you can go in with 20% down, you most likely won’t get a very good rate loan. What you are dumping into TS’s would go a long way towards buying a house. IF you deccide to buy a house with the market as srewed up as it is, I would put it off for at least 3 to 5 years.
If you decide to stop paying the timeshares you probably will get a ding on your credit that will last probably 3 to 5 years. The queston you have to answer for yourself is where do you want to be in 5 years; still paying on two timeshares or money in savings for a house purcase.
As you age (and you should hope that you do) you need to stop paying your money into anything that does not have a positive ROI and stop paying interest on anything such as credit cards and auto loans. The only interest that makes sense is mortgage interest because of the tax deduction which if the current administration gets its way will also disappear which makes buying a house a bad idea.
Your long term goals need to guide you today.
Good luck.
I also have purchased a TC from Lando Resorts at Vacation Village back March 2010. This website gives good advise and I followed it. I did not pay any more money to them after they already had a $2,000. deposit from me. Lots of threats and calls when after returning home I had tried to cancel out on the deal. I received a letter the beginning of this month stating: ……By not remitting as agreed your monthly installment, you failed to respect and honor the terms and conditions of your Loan, and have caused your account to become delinquent, which resulted in the DEFAULT of your Mortgage and Note. Consequently, pursuant to the terms and the Contract for Purchase and Sale, all deposits and payments previously made, have been retained as Liquidated Damages and said contract has been declared NULL and VOID. My maintenance fees are handled separately from the Mortgage and was sent to a collections agency. There was a hit on my credit report for those fees, but not too serious. I sent a copy of the letter from Lando to the collection agency to show them that the purchase contract is now VOID. Hope that gets them off my back too. This was an expensive lesson learned. Good luck with yours.
Daisy,
I don’t know if you called to cancel within ten days or not, but that is the time limit Florida gives for canceling out of a timeshare agreement. You would get all monies returned and no penalties from canceling. If it’s after the ten days, then I guess it’s good that they only kept your 2K and that’s it. Three years after buying the timeshare, I visited it for the first time and of course they wanted to upsell my current mortgage. I went for it at first, but as soon as I got home and thought better of it, I called to cancel. No problem. All monies were returned and the contract voided.
This summer, through RCI, I visited a Silverleaf Resort in Texas and went to the presentation to get the $75. 4 ½ hours later, I was an owner again! It seemed like a genuinely good deal and I asked so many questions that I thought I couldn’t go wrong. They offer free or reduced days to any of their several resorts called Bonus Time. The one important thing they misled me on since I told them that I would mostly be trading in through RCI, was that they had sold me a Nov. through Feb. time slot and that also meant the “Bonus Time” could only be used during those months too. Well, the BT was the biggest reason I went with the deal and being a teacher meant I practically couldn’t use the time at all. I figured this out as soon as I got home and called within 3 days to cancel. They gave me the run around, tried to get me to trade for a different deed, and were unavailable for several weeks. Then when I finally got them on the phone to cancel, the guy begged me to take it and I said send the docs and I’ll take a look. So he sends them to the address on file after I specifically told him I was out of state. The docs get left on my doorstep and then disappear. UGH! So, then he tells me it’s been too long to cancel! Too long! He says he’ll work it out internally because bonuses were being paid to his managers and he didn’t want to rock the boat. What? This goes on for another month and I get daily collection calls from them. I threaten; they don’t care. And my guy never calls me back. Suddenly, I get a call from their owner services that they are sending out paperwork to cancel my contract. Finally!! Get the paper work, have questions, so I call. The biggest question is that I don’t see mention of them refunding the $5K of the $7,400, I’ve already paid. He tells me that they won’t be refunding my deposit. Well, I told him to go back to the drawing board then as this was not acceptable. Two days later, I get what I want and the paperwork is on it’s way again. Hopefully, they will actually honor it. It’s sad because they have a better product than most timeshare deals I’ve seen, but they are shady and difficult to deal with.
I wanted to comment on your post. i to was stupid and nieve when i bought into the timeshare thing and also like you i was making good money to afford it. then i took a paycut and then got laid off and i told the property that i could not afford to pay so didnt hear anything until i received court papers stating they hired an attorney and are taking me to court for foreclosure. this is nov 2011. The timeshare is in Orlando Florida however i live out of state in michigan any advice on what to do as i can’t attend the hearing.
I truly don’t know what to tell you. I had ignored them to for months until I received the offer to op out through a letter I received. Good luck!
Elizabeth, what was your TS company? Can you give us an update please.